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Ticks in pasture area..How to irradicate???

May. 4, 2013, 04:39 PM

We are in Kentucky and have recently found ticks on the horses when they come in from the pasture area. The pasture is mainly cleared but there is a tree/creek line where they hang out some of the time. What is the best way to go about getting rid of these buggers. HELP please.

Comment

Guinea fowl eliminated my daughter's tick problem. Before the guinea fowl, it was impossible to walk in her pasture without getting covered in ticks. Now, it is rare to find a tick. Chickens can be helpful, but she had too many ticks for chickens to make much difference.

Comment

Do you just let the Guinea fowl run loose? What keeps the coyotes from eating them??

By definition they have to free range in order to eat the ticks in the pastures; coyotes/bobcats/fox are my problem too so I'm interested in the answers as well.

Another thing you can do is keep pastures mowed relatively short. If you REALLY want to eradicate them you can spray the wooded areas with permetherin. I did that one year. Effective; my research showed it was pretty much as safe as any pesticide can be; but expensive.

Comment

In all seriousness, ticks are carried by mice and deer, so it is not possible to eradicate them' they will be anywhere there is vegetation. Guineas do eat a lot of ticks -- if you are a guinea person. I am not -- HATE the things, they are loud and stupid and make me insane. I will swerve my truck to save a caterpillar but guineas make me consider mowing them down, omg.

The only farm bird (oh, we have them all now -- peacocks, geese, ducks, guineas, even a 1/2-Canada goose) that hasn't driven me insane with excruciating loudness at the worst possible frequency or acts of sheer evil are the ducks. I can do ducks. They also eat flies and ticks so they do help keep numbers down.

ETA: Yes, keeping grass very short can help, but this will also create exponentially higher concentrations of worms on the tip of grass blades. So you are simply doing a parasite tradeoff there.

Comment

On the Muscovies...if you get a male and a female, they WILL be fruitful and multiply. I sell their eggs for $6/dozen to people who want to bake with them or cannot eat chicken eggs. They are good parents and I just had one duck momma hatch out 16 ducklings. I have 6 already spoken for. Muscovies don't quack either...they peep and hiss...much quieter than standard N. American ducks. Muscovies are excellent meat ducks also so you can eat the extras. I find they need very little grain and practically forage their entire diet. Love them...

The adults are big enough that hawks or owls don't bother then also. I've had no trouble with foxes, possums or anything else with them. The chickens would be toast left out at night but my Muscovies never come in and I haven't lost any to a wild animal...only to a loose dog once.

Comment

In all seriousness, ticks are carried by mice and deer, so it is not possible to eradicate them' they will be anywhere there is vegetation. Guineas do eat a lot of ticks -- if you are a guinea person. I am not -- HATE the things, they are loud and stupid and make me insane. I will swerve my truck to save a caterpillar but guineas make me consider mowing them down, omg.

I can very much relate to this. My neighbors have free ranging guineas and they really drive me nuts at times, they can be so LOUD. I used to think they were incapable of learning anything, but they seemed to have learned to exit the premises when the crazy mean lady with the water gun goes outside.

Comment

HAHAHHAHA, arabpony, you may have just made history by observing a guinea learning!!?? And muscovies are nasty domesticated ducks, I much prefer our native varieties, but they are good at their job and they are quiet. Our other ducks don't quack that much either though, although I will agree that the muscovies are the only ones who never seem to get eaten - they are not protected at all and we have a lovely singing pack of coyotes.

Perhaps the latter fear the evil of the European geese and the peahens as much as I do...

Comment

How are the Muscovies nasty wildlifer? Mine are not at all mean if that's what you mean. Nothing like geese who will go after you. The only time mine will get defensive is if you bother them when sitting on a nest or bother their babies.

I actually watched a Red Tail Hawk pull out of a stoop on a Muscovy (female) when he realized her size. At first I thought I was going to witness a mess and then he flew off and left her alone. If that had been a chicken, she'd of been history.

Comment

No, they are not mean at all. I just find them nasty-looking since as a wildlife biologist, my brain automatically goes "EH, EXOTIC SPECIES!" and their heads are a new level of ugly compared to our other pretty little ducks. I guess I am a duck racist.

Comment

Guineas are really good fliers and will roost in trees so they are pretty good at staying away from coyotes. But the coyotes will get one from time to time. They are ugly and noisy but they are also a hoot to watch IMHO. Ours used to fly to the roof of the house, run along the roof line , then glide down over the dog pen. Then they'd run to the end of the house, fly on the roof and do it again, like kids taking turns on a slide.